Urban Ripple is a hyper-stimulating public space designed by 100architects around a newly built Exhibition Center in Guangzhou, the most populous city of Guangdong Province, China.
PROJECT NAME: Urban Ripple
DESIGN: 100 Architects (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
DESIGN TEAM: Marcial Jesús, Javier González, Mónica Páez, Lara Broglio, Ponyo Zhao, Keith Gong, Cosima Jiang, Hayley Huang, Michelle Aldora, Jango Zhang & Yuntong Liu.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM: Jenny Fan, Nicholas Lv & Eva Jiang.
CLIENT: Zhujiang Properties
SIZE: 4,000 m2
STATUS: Built
LOCATION: Guangzhou (China)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Lalo Lopez
Driven by youngster’s lifestyle, the Exhibition Center intends to call the attention of millennials and Gen Z through a wide range of functions, such as Modern Art Gallery, Party Rooms, Cinema, Band Room, Workshop Room, etc.
In order to follow up that narrative, 100architects was commissioned to design a very eye-catching, stimulating and multifunctional public space surrounding the building, aiming to boost the visitor experience before even entering the building. The hyper-stimulating space is permanently open to public, not only for the Exhibition Center’s visitors but any passerby since this area completely belongs to the public realm.
The project is inspired by the famous Zhujiang River (Pearl River), one of the most important and proud icons of Guangzhou, which also gives name to the client’s company. It features a simple yet striking combinative system of geometrized water ripples, where the main public functions for social interaction are placed, and striped urban corridors resembling the flow of the river while suggesting and encouraging pedestrian circulation.
The main space of the project is right in front of the exhibition center; a colorful sunken plaza with seating features, greenery and shading structures, strategically located in the heart of this urban space, contrasting with all the greyscale circulations revolving around itself.
Besides the patterns, the use of color plays a key role in the clear definition of both spaces, the one for staying and engaging socially as well as the one for circulating. Thus, circulation corridors are solved with shades of grey stone pavement, while for injecting vitality in functional spaces, vibrant colors are applied, using as a base, shades of aquamarine color for the pavements. On the other hand, contrasting, energetic & uplifting colors highlight the urban furniture and other features, in order to call and direct the attention of passersby.
Additionally, the project is not only in the ground floor, but also extends to the rooftop of the building colonizing with an elevated plaza the top floor of the Exhibition Center, filling it up with colors, shading structures and seating features.
Urban Ripple is equipped with several sitting features, amphitheaters for gathering or public performances, lounge areas, stools & tables under canopies to rest under shadows, as well as playful and interactive features, offering joyful and entertainment spaces for all kind of age groups.
Altogether, the proposal creates a very uncommon and surprising public space, beautifying the surroundings of the Exhibition Center while boosting and stimulating visitors’ senses and experiences in the public realm.
100architects
100architects was born with the mission of improving our cities and the experience of citizens in the public realm, by providing high-quality, innovative and stimulating public spaces, inclusive & accessible to everyone.
Our architecture studio doesn’t do buildings (at least not in the conventional way). Through our experimental design approach, our work aims to transform the cityscape we know today into the hyper-stimulating one we envision tomorrow.
We specialize in street architecture & urban interventions, generating innovative solutions that encourage the occurrence of joyful social dynamics.
We believe play is the purest form of creativity, thus, we imagine cities as playgrounds for citizens, regardless of their age or social status, encouraging learning through play and social interactions.
At 100architects, we believe that working in the public space is a privilege. We consider our office an experimental lab for creative urban solutions, driven by the passion of shaping the cities of tomorrow.
The team in our Shanghai-based office is composed of 16 young creative architects and designers whose work lies at the intersection of place-making, street art, landscape architecture and urban interventions.
100 was founded in 2013 in Shanghai by Marcial Jesús, and is currently led by 4 partners –Javier González (Spain), Jenny Fan (China)，Matías Hernández (Chile) and Marcial Jesús (Chile) – establishing an international collaborative workshop with talents from US, Italy, Spain, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, and China.
